professional wordpress themes

Higher Education 2.0 & the Next Few Hundred Years; or, How to Create a New Higher Education Ecosystem [LeBlanc]

On 05/06/2015, in 21st century, accreditation, business side of he, change, dangers of the status quo, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, by Daniel Christian

Higher Education 2.0 and the Next Few Hundred Years; or, How to Create a New Higher Education Ecosystem — from educause.edu by Paul J. LeBlanc

Excerpt:

Three important developments stand to dramatically change the way we think about degree programs and pathways:

  1. The rapid adoption of competency-based education (CBE) programs, often using industry and employer authority for guiding the creation of the competencies and thus programs
  2. An eventual move to suborganizational accreditation, with Title IV funds available for credits, courses, and microcredentials offered by new providers in new delivery models, part of the accelerating trend toward “unbundling” higher education
  3. Increasing recognition that postsecondary education will no longer be contained to the existing and traditional degree levels but will instead be consumed at various levels of granularity—less than full degree programs and continuing throughout lives and careers

If these game changers come to fruition (and they are already taking shape today), we will see an exciting new ecosystem take hold in higher education. Together, these developments are poised to end the monopoly that traditional higher education holds on postsecondary education and to erode the sole authority it has over what counts for quality and relevancy. Smart and agile institutions will respond and even thrive in this changing environment. They will do so alongside new competitors as more providers emerge to compete for students, making the higher education marketplace diverse and robust.

…

Also, industry is not sitting idly by the phone waiting for higher education to call. General Assembly, a leader among the new sector of programming schools (aka coding boot camps), has launched its own credentialing system…

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

 

Reflections on “How Google and Coursera may upend the traditional college degree” [Butler]

On 02/26/2015, in accreditation, career development, collaboration, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, Google, higher education, learning ecosystem, liberal arts, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, professional development, traditional / tradition, training / L&D, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

How Google and Coursera may upend the traditional college degree — from brookings.edu by Stuart Butler

Excerpt:

Recently, the online education firm Coursera announced a new arrangement with Google, Instagram and other tech firms to launch what some are calling “microdegrees” – a set of online courses plus a hands-on capstone project designed in conjunction with top universities and leading high-tech firms. Coursera is one of America’s leading MOOC developers (Massive Open Online Courses).
…
Why does this announcement suggest such a shakeup is likely? Several reasons. Here are just four:

  • MOOCs are moving from novel sideshow to serious competition.
  • The partnership between online education and employers is likely a game-changer.
  • Accreditation as a restriction on competition is eroding.
  • Microdegrees are likely the pathway to customized degree programs.

 

Also see:

Top companies work with university partners to help create capstone projects with real world applications — from blog.coursera.org

Excerpt:

Experts at top companies like Google and Instagram have joined Coursera to help develop the final projects — called “Capstones” — for Coursera Specializations.

Combining a curated series of courses with a final Capstone Project, Specializations help you master new skills with the best of university teaching and the real-time market perspective of top industry partners. Hundreds of thousands of learners have enrolled in Specializations since their launch in January 2014.

 

But partnerships like Coursera’s include employers actually certifying groups of courses as meeting industry’s standards for skills and knowledge – essentially an end-run around traditional accreditation as a measure of quality.

 

 

Also see:

 

 

From DSC:

First of all, that piece about the end-around traditional accreditation should make those of us working within higher ed veeeeerrrrry nervous — and much more responsive — as accreditation has been what’s kept traditional institutions of higher ed in the game. If that goes, well…hmmm…things could get very interesting.

Secondly, those who talk of the demise of MOOCs are waaayyy too premature in their assessment/conclusion. Technologies and vendors such as IBM (Watson), Apple (Siri), Google (Deepmind), and Microsoft (Cortana and Azure Machine Learning) could bake their products into MOOCs. Also, what happens if vendors involved with developing personalized learning platforms and/or those vendors specializing with big data start approaching MOOC providers? (See Will micro-credentialing be an example of the use of big data in education and training?) The resulting offerings could have an enormous impact on how people learn and make a living in the future. Again, if those types of technologies get baked into MOOCs, I’m pretty sure that people won’t be discounting MOOCs any longer.

Also, it’s because of items like those mentioned above that sometimes make me wonder if online education and digitally-related delivery mechanisms are what will save the liberal arts.  People could pick up courses in the liberal arts throughout their lifetimes — obtaining degrees…or not. (As a brief aside, I wonder to what extent faculty members will develop their own brands.)  Anyway, it’s getting to the point that many people can’t afford the campus experience.  But could they afford something online…? It could be…depending upon the pricing and associated business models involved. My guess is that those institutions who practice a team-based approach will survive and thrive — if they keep a steady eye on their pricing. 

 

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

 

Making Assessment Work: Lessons from the University of Pittsburgh [Kurzweil]

On 02/02/2015, in accreditation, adjunct faculty, assessment, colleges, community colleges, education reform, faculty, higher education, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Making Assessment Work: Lessons from the University of Pittsburgh — from sr.ithaka.org  by Martin Kurzweil

Excerpt:

What should an undergraduate chemistry major know by the time she graduates? How can one tell if she knows it? And how can chemistry instruction be improved to ensure that more students meet those expectations?

Such deceptively simple questions—for chemistry and every other discipline—have become an important focus of higher education leaders, accrediting agencies, and government. Yet many universities have struggled to develop robust processes for assessing student learning. Even when a central administration makes a serious effort to develop such a process, faculty participation is often pro forma.

The University of Pittsburgh is an exception. At Pitt, faculty across 350 programs are deeply engaged in a systematic approach to assessing student learning outcomes, which has led to measurable results and significant changes.

…

“Making Assessment Work: Lessons from the University of Pittsburgh” delves into some of the specific practices Pitt undertook and documents the change in the university’s culture. No system is perfect, but this case study shows Pitt’s decentralized approach, targeted at the level of coherent programs of study, coupled with strong and supportive leadership, led Pitt’s faculty to make assessment an important driver of program improvement.

On a programming note, this is the first in a new series of case studies on educational transformation from Ithaka S+R.  Every few weeks, we will release a new report on innovative approaches that institutions have taken to improve student outcomes and control costs.  Covering issues such as online education, learning analytics, and university governance, the case studies document the ways that change happens in higher education.

Also see the ITHAKA S&R blog.

 

 

…the most important factor in the development of Pitt’s culture of assessment was its decentralized, yet accountable, approach. University leaders established a timeline and general framework for assessment, offered feedback, designated degree and certificate programs as the units of assessment, and, most significantly, left the details to faculty responsible for those programs. This combination of broad oversight and localized management has fostered a sense of ownership among faculty, who have made assessment an important driver of program improvement.

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

 

US Senate Full Committee Hearing — Accreditation as QA: Meeting the needs of 21st century learning

On 12/13/2013, in 21st century, accreditation, colleges, community colleges, future of higher education, game-changing environment, learning, legislatures / government / legal, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

AccreditationFor21stCentury-USSenate-12-12-13

 

Witnesses/Panel I:

  • Dr. Arthur Levine , President of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, Princeton, NJ
  • Dr. Ralph Wolff , Former President of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Alameda, CA
  • Dr. Daniel J. Phelan , President of Jackson College, Jackson, MI
  • Ms. Laura King , Executive Director of the Council on Education for Public Health, Silver Spring, MD

 

 

 

Also see/originally saw this at:

Accreditation Agita — from insidehighered.com — by Michael Stratford and Paul Fain

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON — During a hearing Thursday, several Democratic senators mulled whether the federal government should get more involved in the accrediting process. They might have been less enthusiastic if they saw what was happening at another meeting two blocks away.

The federal panel that reviews accreditors, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, held that gathering. Faculty members and students from the City College of San Francisco, who for the past year have essentially waged war against the accrediting agency that is threatening to revoke the accreditation of their college, pleaded their case to the panel.

 

Also see:

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

 

“For chairs, the seat’s gotten hotter” & “Accreditors now find themselves under critical review” [chronicle.com]

On 12/02/2013, in accreditation, business side of he, change, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, by Daniel Christian

For chairs, the seat’s gotten hotter — from chronicle.com by Audrey Williams June
With new demands for fund raising and assessment, academe’s middle managers feel the pressure

 

Also see:

Excerpt:

Despite their long history in higher education, accreditors now face what some believe are existential challenges, including technological changes that could transform higher education in ways that diminish the groups’ role as standard-bearers of quality, or even eliminate them as gatekeepers for federal dollars.

The higher-education landscape is shifting rapidly. But accreditation, a lengthy and complex process, is not keeping pace, according to critics, and even some supporters, of the current system.

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

 

Accreditation on the block as lawmakers look to innovation [EvoLLLution NewsWire]

On 11/08/2013, in accreditation, budgets, business side of he, change, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, entrepreneurship, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, legislatures / government / legal, more voice more choice more control, new business models, by Daniel Christian

Accreditation on the block as lawmakers look to innovation — from EvoLLLution NewsWire

Excerpt:

Accreditation and federal financial aid policies are in line to be overhauled as lawmakers start to debate the possibility of mainstreaming some of higher education’s most recent innovations.

During a recent hearing of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, numerous federal senators pointed toward competency-based education and hybrid models of online education as examples of strategies that could revolutionize higher education. However, they were concerned by the role of federal financial aid rules and regional accreditation boards in keeping these innovations from reaching the wider higher education marketplace.

It is expected that a number of bills will be introduced in the coming days to overhaul the regulatory systems that govern American postsecondary education.  Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) plans to unveil a bill to move accreditation responsibilities from the region to the state. This would allow greater market access to non-institutional education providers, which are typically unaccreditated and cannot compete with traditional institutions on an even footing.

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

 

Reflections on “U.S. teams up with operator of online courses to plan a global network” [Lewin]

On 11/01/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, accreditation, Asia, Australia, blended learning, budgets, business side of he, career development, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, distance education, education technology, elearning, entrepreneurship, Europe, experimentation, face-to-face, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, higher education, hybrid learning, ideas, informal learning, innovation, internet, lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, participation, professional development, reinvent, social learning / networks, staying relevant, STEAM-related, streams of content, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, training / L&D, UK, United States, virtual field trips, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

U.S. teams up with operator of 0nline courses to plan a global network — from nytimes.com by Tamar Lewin

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Coursera, a California-based venture that has enrolled five million students in its free online courses, announced on Thursday a partnership with the United States government to create “learning hubs” around the world where students can go to get Internet access to free courses supplemented by weekly in-person class discussions with local teachers or facilitators.

The learning hubs represent a new stage in the evolution of “massive open online courses,” or MOOCs, and address two issues: the lack of reliable Internet access in some countries, and the growing conviction that students do better if they can discuss course materials, and meet at least occasionally with a teacher or facilitator.

“Our mission is education for everyone, and we’ve seen that when we can bring a community of learners together with a facilitator or teacher who can engage the students, it enhances the learning experience and increases the completion rate,” said Lila Ibrahim, the president of Coursera. “It will vary with the location and the organization we’re working with, but we want to bring in some teacher or facilitator who can be the glue for the class.”

 

From DSC:
Some thoughts here:

1)  When institutions of higher education cling to the status quo and disregard the disturbing trajectories at play*…when we don’t respond, people — and governments it seems — will find other options/alternatives.

* Such as middle class incomes that continue to decline
while the price of higher education continues to escalate

2)  I wonder if this type of setup might predominate in some countries.
i.e. blended learning types of setups in learning centers around the world where people can come in at any time to learn with a relevant Community of Practice, aided by faculty, teachers, trainers, coaches, etc.   Some of the content is “beamed in” and shared electronically, while some of the learning involves face-to-face discussions/work. Will schools become more community centers where we will pool resources and offer them to people 24×7?

Also see:

  • The New Innovator’s Dilemma — from huffingtonpost.com by Michael Moe and Ben Wallerstein; with thanks to Lisa Duty for the Tweet on this
    Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
    Increasingly, we’re worried that a generation of entrepreneurs is facing a “new innovators dilemma” — where innovation is stymied by regulatory and political environments focused on outdated needs and the wrong set of “customers.” The truth is, Silicon Valley investors and techies will get by just fine without addressing our big, societal problems. But if we encourage our nation’s top entrepreneurs to join search engines and social networks, we will miss the opportunity to apply their genius to solving society’s most pressing problems.
    …
    This isn’t about the classic political divide of right versus left. This is about policies and regulations written in a different era that are not easily translated to modern technology. It’s no secret that the challenge stems, in part, from the motivations of regulators and the politics of protecting the status quo.
    …
    Change is difficult. And no one is arguing that the transportation, hospitality, and higher education industries don’t need to be regulated. New approaches, in particular, warrant close scrutiny. But if we are ever going to experience the sort of revolutionary change that technology might afford to virtually every sector of the American economy, we need to be willing to rethink the traditional ways of regulation to make innovation easier and more responsive to the consumers and students these regulations were originally enacted to protect.

 

Addendum 11/1/13:

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

 

A solid interactive chart by Valerie Landau: “Indicators pointing to disruptive innovation in higher education”

On 10/21/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, accreditation, business side of he, change, changing business models, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, education technology, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, internet, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, open courseware and systems, training / L&D, trends, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Indicators-Disruptive-Innovation-inHE-ValerieLandau-October2013

From DSC:
Valerie’s interactive chart speaks to many of the items I was trying to capture a while back in this graphic:

 

The perfect storm in higher ed -- by Daniel S. Christian

 

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

 

Higher Education: New Models, New Rules [Soares, Eaton, & Smith]

On 10/07/2013, in accreditation, budgets, business side of he, change, changing business models, cost of getting a degree, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, new business models, online learning, policy, by Daniel Christian

Higher Education: New Models, New Rules — from educause.com by Louis Soares, Judith S. Eaton, and Burck Smith
What are the new rules that will accompany future new models in higher education? Three essays address this question by exploring state higher education policy, accreditation for non-institutional education, and the disaggregation of the current higher education model.

 

Educause-NewModelsNewRules-Oct72013

 

Excerpt from Burck’s essay:

Accordingly, the government spurs “supply” by paying for colleges and universities and spurs “demand” by paying for students. Accreditors determine who can receive these funds. All of this worked well for sixty years. Until, suddenly, it doesn’t.

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

 

Job market embraces Massive Online Courses [Belkin & Porter]

On 09/27/2013, in 21st century, accreditation, business, business side of he, career development, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, distance education, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, Google, higher education, innovation, learner profiles, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, open courseware and systems, professional development, training / L&D, vendors, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Job market embraces Massive Online Courses — from online.wsj.com by Douglas Belkin and Caroline Porter
Seeking better-trained workers, AT&T, Google and other firms help design and even fund web-based college classes

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Big employers such as AT&T Inc. and Google Inc. are helping to design and fund the latest round of low-cost online courses, a development that providers say will open the door for students to earn inexpensive credentials with real value in the job market.

New niche certifications being offered by providers of massive open online courses, or MOOCs, are aimed at satisfying employers’ specific needs. Available at a fraction of the cost of a four-year degree, they represent the latest crack in the monopoly traditional universities have in credentialing higher education.

…

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with its MOOC partner edX, is starting a course sequence called the XSeries, and plans to ask for input from a consortium of about 50 companies, including United Parcel Service Inc., Procter & Gamble Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. For up to $700, students will be able to take a test and earn a “verified certificate” in subjects like computer science and supply-chain management.

Meanwhile, companies such as Yahoo Inc. have begun reimbursing employees who take certified courses from Coursera, another MOOC provider.

 

 

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

 

Accreditation and only doing what one’s peers do in higher ed: Not serving society well

On 08/30/2013, in accreditation, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education reform, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, new business models, staying relevant, surviving, United States, by Daniel Christian

Issue #1: Accreditation

 

OPINION: How to make college better & more affordable — from edsurge.com by Paul Freedman
One powerful answer: Reform the accreditation process

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

How can our diverse, 4,300 two- and four-year schools collectively be failing to produce the outcomes we need, at the scale we need them, all at the same time?

How can this be?
…
…why have these solutions not yet driven the fundamental change the system needs? Innovators that could bring costs down and help our system stay on the leading-edge are being stifled by little-known organizations that possess tremendous unregulated power in higher education: accreditors. As a result, our system is sick–plagued by an institutionalized lack of adaptation.

…

If they are indeed stewards of the public trust responsible for ensuring the quality of our higher education system, then they are also responsible for its outcomes and therefore share a large portion of the blame for the failures in higher education that we see today. Accreditation is the one constant across all US higher education institutions.

…

The problem? Ivy Bridge wanted to change the status quo.

 

Also see:

 

AccreditationKillingInnovation-Freedman-VB-Aug302013

 

 

A relevant side note from DSC:
The following statement in Downgrading Elite Colleges (InsideHigherEd.com) shows the impact of this straitjacketing, status quo situation (emphasis mine):

“We do see pressure on small private colleges as a group and that’s primarily because they don’t have a lot of different things they can do, so they are primarily dependent on tuition revenue,” said a Moody’s analyst, Edie Behr.

Moody’s advises institutions to try to diversify their revenue streams.

That is not an easy task, said Oberlin’s vice president for finance, Ronald Watts.

.
…they don’t have a lot of different things they can do…
…that is not an easy task…
.
From DSC:
Are these statements true? If so, why?
Is accreditation part of the issue/solution?
Who should be on the accrediting bodies? Whose agenda(s) do they represent?

 

 

 

(Related) Issue #2: Only doing what one’s peer groups are doing.

 

titanic-wakpaper-dot-com

 

From DSC:
If the entire boat is sinking, does it matter what your peers are doing?!? Isn’t it time for bigger thinking? Bolder thinking? More (and careful/well-thought-through) experimentation?

Paul Freedman states this as well in his article:

I have heard people in the industry compare the current state of higher education to a sinking ship. If that is accurate, then accreditors should be viewed as the ones who are literally nailing down the deck chairs to the Titanic. We need to keep the students we are all dedicated to serving from going down with the ship. We, as the education industry and as US citizens, need to fight for accreditation reform.

I ask these questions and pose the above picture not to promote panic — but rather to strongly encourage change. Institutions of higher education need to adapt in order to stay relevant, survive, and to properly equip future generations for the world they will be entering. 

If not, students will find other ways to be successful — and so will corporations.

 

 

Addendum on 9/3/13: 

  • Higher Ed Accrediting Commissions: Transparency for thee, not for me — from mfeldstein.com by Phil Hill
    Excerpt:
    Why do I keep covering accreditation issues on e-Literate, a blog nominally about online learning and educational technology? The reason is that accrediting commissions have enormous influence on higher education institutions, particularly as the industry wrestles with questions of which changes are necessary, which changes are worth trying but might not work, and which changes should be avoided. If there really is a shift in the DOE’s views on accreditation or in the accrediting commissions’ interpretation of standards, then that could have fairly profound cascade effects on competency-based learning programs, private online colleges, MOOCs, and online service providers.That is also why the lack of transparency from the accrediting commissions is so troubling. They are making decisions that have profound effects on many institutions, not just the specific schools under review.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

 

Reflections on “No surprise: Accrediting agency opts to stunt innovation” [Christensen]

On 08/12/2013, in 21st century, accreditation, disruption, experimentation, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, leadership, new business models, by Daniel Christian

No surprise: Accrediting agency opts to stunt innovation — from disruptingclass.mhprofessional.com by Clayton Christensen

Excerpts:

Several years ago I offered words of praise when Tiffin College partnered with Altius Education to create Ivy Bridge College, a two-year online institution dedicated to providing an affordable higher education option that boosted the transfer rate of two-year students to four-year institutions.

The Higher Learning Commission (HLC), the accrediting body for the North Central region and thus this partnership because Tiffin College is located in an Ohio city that was once populated with industry, agreed strongly, as in 2010 it approved continuing accreditation for Tiffin University and Ivy Bridge College through 2020. At the time, the HLC lauded the partnership.

In the last few weeks, everything changed.

 

From DSC:
What needs to be done to force accreditation bodies to change who can be on these accreditation teams?  Why is it that the people that institutions of higher education claim to serve can’t be on such boards?  i.e. one must be an “insider” to the higher education industry, but not an “outsider?”

Pursuing the current status quo may have a serious backfiring effect when alternatives present themselves.  In fact, taking steps to insure the status quo only serves to put more energy behind MOOCs and puts yet more heat in higher ed’s kitchen.  I would hope that folks inside higher ed would take the steps to allow for more experimentation and innovation and to take some heat out of the kitchen.

 

 

The key, he added, was to try to avoid mistakes like those made by the music industry on its road to iTunes. “This is a Napster moment for education,” he said. “It’s a big opportunity and an existential threat.”

— from A “Napster Moment” in Education

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

 

What would happen if the U.S. Federal Government redirected their funding for higher education?

On 06/25/2013, in 21st century, accreditation, business side of he, changing business models, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, education reform, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
The article below made me wonder…

What would happen if the U.S. Federal Government got tired of waiting for institutions of traditional higher education to respond significantly  enough to their satisfaction?  Would they re-allocate/redirect their funding elsewhere?

(Please leave a comment if you know of cases where they are already doing this.
I have a lot to learn about this, I’m sure.)

 

No Love for Accreditation — from insidehighered.com by Libby A. Nelson

Excerpt:

But when lawmakers do sit down to rewrite the law governing financial aid programs, accreditation will be under a particularly harsh spotlight.

…

Members of Congress of both parties seemed to agree more with the critics, saying they were skeptical that traditional accreditation was flexible enough to respond to new developments in higher education.

 

 

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

 

Northern Arizona wins regional accreditor’s approval for personalized learning program [Millichap]

On 06/05/2013, in accreditation, assessment, competency-based learning/education, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, personalized/customized learning, United States, by Daniel Christian

Northern Arizona wins regional accreditor’s approval for personalized learning program –– from nextgenlearning.org by Nancy Millichap

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

It’s all systems go, at last: Northern Arizona University, one of the ten institutions presently developing breakthrough degree programs with NGLC support, recently got the green light to start enrolling students in their Personalized Learning program. The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (HLC), NAU’s regional accreditor, approved their application to offer a competency-based degree program that moves away from the credit hour standard to use an approach referred to as “direct assessment” instead. In this approach, students receive credit related not to their presence in a real or virtual classroom for a specified period of time but instead to their successful completion of assessments that show they have mastered clearly defined competencies or are able to perform specific, predetermined tasks. HLC has created a pilot group of four institutions now approved to offer a competency-based degree program: NAU, the University of Wisconsin Colleges (a system of two-year campuses), the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, and Capella University.

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • •  

The future of higher ed according to Richard DeMillo; some thoughts/perspectives worth reflecting on

On 03/20/2013, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, accreditation, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, disruption, emerging technologies, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, internet, journalism, lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, online learning, reinvent, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, by Daniel Christian
Traditional institutions will close, number of colleges and universities will rise (audio and transcript) — from evoLLLution.com (where LLL stands for lifelong learning) by Richard DeMillo | Director of the Center for 21st Century Universities, Georgia Institute of Technology
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
.

Well, for me, it always boils down to value. People misunderstand this as assigning value based on salaries or employability, but I mean value in the larger sense. You have to have a reason to ask students to pay more than the marginal costs of delivering education. And with all these revolutions in technology for course delivery, that marginal cost is going to zero very, very quickly [think journalism]. So, every institution that’s going to survive, I think, over the next 50 years, is going to have to make that case. Why is it that tuition at this institution is justified?

The interesting thing about this is it’s going to be accelerated because the old bureaucracies, the old institutional models… are crumbling. At least, their boundaries are crumbling. Let me tell you what I mean by that.

The accrediting agencies, which I think traditionally have had — at least for the last 120 years or so—an institutional focus, are now shifting their focus to students; to competencies, to demonstrations of what students know. And that really starts to cut against institutional entitlement.

I think the conclusion of all this is that, as it becomes harder and harder for… a “Me-Too Institution” to argue for a marginal increase in price, the amount of money that those institutions are going to have available to them to spend on anything but core mission for students is also going to go to zero. So, this is kind of a virtuous cycle; … institutions that are unable to make the value proposition will find themselves more and more strapped for discretionary funds in order to move themselves into a different space. And that’s an ending that’s not very good for most institutions.

From DSC:
How will our/your organization keep from becoming a commodity?  What are we/you all going to bring to the table that’s different, unique, and worth paying for?

 

WalmartOfEducation-Christian2008

 

 

Also see:

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •  
Previous Entries Next Entries
© 2024 | Daniel Christian